Shaun is hell-bent on bringing his 1080 into the world, will it happen in Portland? Jared Souney © Lat34
Dew Tour Portland Preview
Aug 14 2006 / Los Angeles, CAIn the Skate Park contest, the Dew Tour is currently ruled by young guns: 21 year-old Jereme Rogers, 16 year-old Ryan Sheckler, and 11 year-old Nyjah Huston hold down the top three spots. Jereme looked super solid in Denver, as did Nyjah, so it will cool to see those two duke it out. But, Sheckler was able to secure a 4th place finish even with his burn injury. So, now that he’s healed up from that you can be sure he’ll be out for blood in Portland. Sheckler won the whole thing last year before he was even old enough to drive away in the Toyota prize, and he's a crowd favorite – especially among the screaming teen girl set – to win it all again.
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Shaun White's Skateboard Vert win at the Right Guard Open event in Denver last month puts him in the running for the overall Dew Tour competition – he's currently in 4th even with a last place finish at the Panasonic Open in Louisville on his record. Now, he seems hell-bent on bringing his 1080 into the world. You won't be seeing it in a competition run any time soon, but another big win might put him in the mood to try again.
Pastrana is far in the lead in the FMX overall standings, and with a double back flip as his new calling card, he could be unbeatable. A win in Denver for the Right Guard Open and a 2nd place finish in Louisville's Panasonic Open put him at 130 points, nearly double the score of Nate Adams, his closest competitor. Kenny Bartram's injury at the recent X Games probably puts him out, dooming his chances to repeat last year's overall win and moving Ailo Gaup into 3rd place.
Scotty Cranmer won the Dew Tour event in Louisville and is holding down 2nd place overall, in between Daniel Dhers and Alistair Whitton. On dirt, Anthony Napolitan, Ryan Nyquist, and Luke Parslow are running the show on the Dew Tour in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. X Games 12 gold medalist Corey Bohan holds 4th in the Dew Tour overall standings, with Luke Parslow in 3rd and not surprisingly Ryan Nyquist and Anthony Napolitan in the top two.
And finally, the weather should be way more tolerable in Portland. The Denver leg of the Dew Tour saw record temperatures of over 100 degrees scorching the outdoor courses. Portland should be about 20 degrees cooler, which almost justifies the Snowboard Rail Jam that’s set to go off Thursday, August 17. They’ll be trucking in snow from the mountains for Yale Cousino, Colin Langlois, Mike Casanova, Chris Rotax, Pat Milbery, Doran Laybourn, Jonas Michelot and Wyatt Caldwell to bust it out in true winter style... in August.
Now in its second year, the five stops on the Dew Action Sports Tour represent the biggest contest series in action sports and build towards the biggest cash prize. On the Dew Tour, BMX (see Portland BMX Dirt Preview Video), Skate (see Portland Skate Park Preview Video), and FMX athletes compete in each city and also earn points for the overall competition. In addition to the 2.5 million dollar competitive purse for these events, the overall winner in each category drinks from the Dew Cup, wins a chunk of a million dollar bonus pool, and drives away in a new Toyota.
Lat34 is following all the Dew Tour action; follow along here, or join us in Portland. Isn't it time you took a road trip to check out the concrete jungle of new skateparks in the Northwest? And don’t forget, the Dew Tour has another two stops still to come: the Toyota Challenge in San Jose and the Playstation Pro in Orlando.
– Colin Bane, Steve Lemig
